


For Each Man Kills The Thing He Loves

by KnifeFeatheredWings



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Completed, F/M, Slow Burn, Tears, mention of violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-25
Updated: 2016-11-25
Packaged: 2018-09-02 02:32:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8648347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KnifeFeatheredWings/pseuds/KnifeFeatheredWings
Summary: For each man kills the thing he lovesYet each man does not dieSeverus Snape loves Lily Potter, and she loves him. But she runs off with James. When she realises her mistake, she comes to Severus for help. But can he do what she asks of him? Will his soul survive it?





	1. For Each Man Kills The Thing He Loves

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, and the only profit I make from this work is the happiness I feel when someone reads it (and even more if they reply)
> 
> The title is from Oscar Wilde's "The Ballad of Reading Gaol", which I'll post in the second chapter; the other quote is from Christopher Marlowe's play "Hero and Leander".
> 
> Enjoy :))

Severus shut the door behind him and leaned against the stone wall of the sparsely decorated room. Sinking to his knees, he let out a shuddering breath. What have I done? He could feel the cold seeping into his bones, his lungs drowning on the damp air, but he dared not open the door and step into the light- no, that was far worse. Even though this room more closely resembled a medieval dungeon than a bedroom, the real nightmare was outside. Here, under the cover of the night, he could act like none of it had ever happened, the wetness on his hands was only water, the thing in his hand was not a knife, his soul was still whole. For beyond the creaky door lay his love- the corpse of his love.

“She asked me to do it.” It was a statement, but uttered so softly that it was a wonder it was heard at all. Yes, asked, that was all he would say. There was no need to relate to the court how the reason of his existence, the love of not only his childhood but of his whole life, had come to him pleading to be spared from a fate worse than death. “Please,” she had gone on and on, even after he had refused her a thousand times- “It has to be you. Someone who loves me. I can’t go on like this.” And he knew she spoke truth- if they caught her, they would never let her go. One does not leave the son of the most powerful mafiosa for one’s true love without certain consequences. Consequences that involved being forced to sell your body to buy your life.

What he wouldn’t have given to be the man that she took such a risk for, left her degree, her home, her safety for. But he was doomed to be forever the loving friend that was the shoulder to cry on, to lean on. He was always there for her, would always be there for her, but she had gone and chosen James, that spoilt boy that had took her for granted, as he took everything for granted, and run off with a blond two years his senior, leaving her twenty one, penniless, degreeless, and homeless. The only thing she had to her name was his gambling debts- and the ivory pendant Severus had given her when they were kids. She hadn’t pawned it, and it had given him hope. A sliver of hope that had lasted but a second, but hope nonetheless- something he had never had before.

Even when they were kids, playing in the streets together, he, Lily and James, there was an unspoken rivalry between the boys. James could never be bothered with either of them, and was downright selfish, but apparently that was what it took to earn a girl’s affections. Still, she was with him now, not James. He didn’t know if it made it better or more unbearable, having her so close yet untouchable. He couldn’t do what she asked, though, couldn’t kill the only thing he loved. He would protect her, keep her safe.

It wasn’t until he had come home from a long day of back-breaking work to find her collapsed on the sofa, holding an ice bag to her face and moaning silently that he realised how helpless they were. “I went to get groceries” she smiled sheepishly “I wanted to surprise you.”

They could take whatever they wanted whenever they wanted- he couldn’t let them take away her soul and crush it under their feet, leave her a shell waiting to die.

“I’ll do it.” The words are out of his mouth, there’s no going back now. She rises, limping slightly, and clings to him, burying her face in his shirt.

“Now?”

“Whenever you want.”

“Make it quick, alright?”

He nods, blinking away the tears that have already begun to form. “I’ll get the knife.”

She shivers in his arms as he holds her, the last breaths of what is and what could never be escaping her, red tales untold pooling on the carpet.

“I love you” The first time he’s heard her say those words is the last time she will ever say anything.

“I love you.”

But she’s gone.


	2. The Ballad of Reading Gaol

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The part of The Ballad of Reading Goal by Oscar Wilde that inspired this fic to some degree (it's actually much longer but I definately recommend it)

Yet each man kills the thing he loves  
By each let this be heard,  
Some do it with a bitter look,  
Some with a flattering word,   
The coward does it with a kiss,  
The brave man with a sword!

Some kill their love when they are young,  
And some when they are old;  
Some strangle with the hands of Lust,   
Some with the hands of Gold:  
The kindest use a knife, because  
The dead so soon grow cold.

Some love too little, some too long,  
Some sell, and others buy;   
Some do the deed with many tears,  
And some without a sigh:  
For each man kills the thing he loves,  
Yet each man does not die.

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry- not sorry. It hurt writing this..I actually turned it in for school. Would love any type of feedback- thanks for reading and hoped you liked it


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